Peacock Review: Everything to Know About NBC’s Streaming Service (and How to Get it for 99 Cents a Month)
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The streaming wars have gotten more heated in the last few years, thanks to Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service. With hundreds of both new and beloved shows and movies in its catalog, Peacock is where you can stream Saved by the Bell online, new original comedies like Meet Cute, or watch The Office online for free.
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Peacock competes with legacy streaming services like Netflix and Hulu along with more recent entrants like HBO Max and Disney+ in a bid for your tube time, but its offerings are worth checking out. We’ve broken down everything you need to know about the service, including our verdict on whether or not Peacock is worth it for a subscription.
Subscribe to Peacock Premium
How Does Peacock Work?
Peacock is unique among its competition because it has a free tier that includes access to a smaller library. This isn’t a promo either — you can subscribe to Peacock and never have to pay a dime.
Peacock Premium, the paid version of this service normally costs $4.99 per month, or $49.99 per year, and gives you access to a larger library of shows and movies, plus original series, and daily news, sports, and pop culture updates. An ad-free Peacock Premium subscription costs $9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year, although NBC says some Peacock channels, events, TV shows, and movies need to have advertisements due to streaming rights.
But just in time for Black Friday, Peacock is offering a holiday promotion that gets you 12 months of Peacock Premium for as little as 99 cents per month. Use the Black Friday promo code SAVEBIG at checkout to score the discount, which brings your annual subscription down to about $12 for the year. This is a limited-time promotion, so you’ll want to take advantage of the Black Friday Peacock streaming deal before it ends.
Peacock Premium
You can sign up for a Peacock Premium subscription now online, in the Peacock App on your iOS or Android device, or by downloading a digital channel on certain streaming hardware. Peacock is available on Apple TV, Vizio Smartcast TVs, LG Smart TVs, Chromecast, AndroidTV devices, Roku, or Fire TV devices.
What Shows Are on Peacock?
Although Peacock is a relatively new streaming service, it’s owned by NBCUniversal, a media company that’s been in the TV business since 1933. If you subscribe to Peacock’s free tier, you’ll be able to watch TV shows like Love Island, Quantum Leap, Chicago Fire, and certain pilot episodes of original series including Bel-Air and Vampire Academy.
Peacock Premium subscribers have even more to choose from, including staples like Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, The Office, Everybody Loves Raymond, Monk, Cheers, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Battlestar Galactica, Downton Abbey, Modern Family, Saturday Night Live, Late Night With Seth Myers, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and House. Premium subscribers can also watch episodes from current shows the day after they air, like The Voice, and more seasons of some TV shows.
Peacock Premium is also the only way to watch original TV series, like Brave New World (based on Aldous Huxley’s classic novel), Intelligence, written by Nick Mohammed and co-starring David Schwimmer, as well as series like Angelyne and Last Light. You can also stream the original Saved by the Bell on Peacock and other classic NBCUniversal shows like Punky Brewster. Of course both Punky and Saved by the Bell have also returned as new shows under the “Peacock Originals” banner. In total, NBCUniversal says Peacock Premium subscribers can stream more than 80,000 hours of content.
What Movies Are on Peacock?
TV shows are Peacock’s big draw, but subscribers can stream a lot of movies, too. Movie fans with the Premium package can watch everything from Jurassic World Dominion, starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, to the new original romantic comedy Meet Cute, starring Kaley Cuoco and Pete Davidson. Other new releases and newly added films include B.J. Novak’s Vengeance, Beetlejuice, The Black Phone, The Bad Guys, The Northman, Ambulance, and the Harry Potter franchise, just to name a few.
What Sports Are on Peacock?
NBCUniversal previously struck up a deal to have exclusive streaming rights to Premier League soccer matches. The Premier League is an English soccer confederation made up of 20 clubs, and Peacock Premium subscribers will be able to stream live games from the 2022-2023 season. (Check the Premier League schedule on Peacock.)
If you can’t watch your favorite team’s match live, you’ll have access to a full replay once the game is over. You can also stream the WWE Network online via Peacock, as well as golf, live NFL games, college football, rugby, plus sports documentaries with your Premium subscription.
Still, if live sports is what you’re after, your best bet is still to sign up for something like fuboTV, which offers dozens of sporting channels with even its most basic subscription (get a 7-day free trial to fuboTV here).
How Often Is New Content Added to Peacock?
Because NBCUniversal owns the rights to shows like The Office, they’re far less likely to disappear from this service, or reappear on a competitor’s. NBCUniversal always has the option to license its franchises out, but for now you should consider them Peacock exclusives.
Additional movies and TV shows may be added from both NBCUniversal’s libraries, or through deals made with other studios. For example, the company previously reached an agreement with ViacomCBS to license out TV shows and movies like Everybody Hates Chris, Real Husbands of Hollywood, American Beauty, Fatal Attraction, The Godfather, and An Officer and a Gentleman, among others.
This shows NBCUniversal’s commitment to scoop up licensing rights to make Peacock an even better value. A recent example is that all 12 seasons of Modern Family have become available on Peacock. Keep in mind movies and TV shows from non-NBCUniversal companies are far more likely to cycle in and out over time.
Does Peacock Offer 4K Streaming?
The highest-resolution currently available on any streaming service is 4K (ultra high definition), which is twice as good as 1080P (full HD). High-dynamic range is a new video technology that makes colors and shadows look more accurate. Both 4K video streaming and HDR video streaming are restricted to those with a Peacock Premium subscription.
Keep this in mind: to stream in 4K HDR you need a TV that supports those features, an internet connection fast enough to stream video files that large, and the content you’re watching needs to be available in that resolution with HDR. If everything lines up, you’ll notice a substantial difference, but free Peacock subscribers may not be missing out on much.
What Are the Best Peacock Deals? Offers, Promo Codes
If you’re thinking about testing out Peacock, you can get a limited-time discount on its Premium plan right now. Today you can get Peacock Premium’s annual package for as low as 99 cents/month when you use the code SAVEBIG at checkout time, then pay the regular subscription fee of $4.99/month again once your 12 months end.
Peacock Premium
The Bottom Line: Is Peacock Worth It?
It’s hard to deny the appeal of Peacock’s free tier and budget-friendly Premium plan. You get access to some of the most critically-acclaimed TV shows and movies of the past century, albeit with the caveat of having to watch ads, and video quality being capped at HD.
Subscribing to Peacock Premium takes a slightly larger leap of faith, but if you take advantage of NBCUniversal’s current discount for a year with the promo code SAVEBIG (normally $49.99 annually for Peacock Premium, $99.99 annually for ad-free Peacock Premium), then it’s cheaper than HBO Max, Hulu, or Netflix. If you never got over Netflix’s loss of The Office and want to find it elsewhere, or if you want to stream Saved by the Bell and other childhood classics online, NBCUniversal’s Peacock Premium is worth subscribing to. Peacock’s original programming is worth checking out too, and the streamer is promising new content and new announcements in the months to come, making it a solid bet to keep on your watchlist — and your subscription list.
Subscribe to Peacock Premium
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